Day 55 - 3rd June, Malham to Horton in Ribblesdale - 15.8 miles

I'd originally planned that this walk would take 110 days. I haveun't finalised my route through the North of Scotland yet so, though it's hard to believe, today may be my half-way mark.
Just over 700 miles in. 

As I walked out of Malham, I met Mick who was repairing a stone wall. 

Mick is a farmer but is also able to build stone walls - a skill he learned from his dad. He explained how for stability, all the stones need to be selected so that they interlock and that a traditional field stone wall could have weighed a ton per metre.  Apparently all the stone would have been quarried and hauled by horse to where the stone was required. It makes all those mountain and moorland walls even more impressive.

There are 400 steps up to the top of Malham Cove.

At the top of the Cove, there's a 'Limestone pavement' of large, fissured slabs....

- not easy walking but an amazing view back down across the face of the Cove.

I met a young couple with a beautiful, tall, physical and very playful, 7 month old Doberman puppy with massive muddy paws. It was VERY playful and clearly liked jumping up and covering me in muddy paw prints so for the remainder of the walk I probably looked as though I was wearing a Scooby Doo onesie!!

The surface underfoot would be perfect for twisting an ankle. Not a place to bring

any prized footballers which might explain why I didn't see any!! 

At Malham Tarn I met Jan from Manchester. She'd just parked her smart red sports car.

She was enjoying a morning photographing the lake having dropped off her husband to walk Southwards from Horton to Malham. They're both keen walkers and have recently walked the Pembrokeshire coastal path

At the Field Centre at Malham Tarn House, I heard some sublime music and met Steve sitting in his van playing a Kora.

Steve is a professional double bassist playing with various orchestras and swing bands. During lockdown he decided to take up the kora and had bought an old one reconditioned by an expert in Brighton.
Steve explained that the musical traditions in Mali tend to be passed down within families. For example, the Keita family are famous for their singing whereas the Diabate family are famous for their kora playing. He demonstrated some of the complicated fingering used to achieve octave notes. A fabulously mesmering sound. 

The strings are made from simple fishing line and he told me that he'd accompanied an expert Malian player to a fishing tackle shop in Nottingham to get some new strings before a concert who had then given an impromptu performace to some bemused anglers.

Steve works part time at a Field Study centre on Malham Tarn and was using his lunch hour to practice.

There's alovely woodland at the end of the tarn full of lush wild garlic. Heavenly! 

The route then climbs Fountains Fell (which at one time belonged to Fountains Abbey) and I met Tim (Jan's husband)

who must have had an early start and was setting a cracking pace.

Belted Galloways on the moor.

Breezy at the top of Fountains Fell.

Descending from the north side of Fountains Fell, 

I had my first view of the next intimidating challenge - Pen y Ghent. 

Frustratingly the track goes down, down and down before starting on the long up, to climb the steep nose of Pen y Ghent.

It starts off steep and quickly gets steeper to become a rock scramble at the top.

Made it! 

Just 3 miles to go - all of it downhill, much of it on concrete steps.

a view back up to the summit.

On the edge of Horton, I met

Roxanne and Martin. Roxanne is an academic specialising in Asian and European history at the University of Oregon. Martin was in Public Health. Roxanne had taken some time off to find the right 'space' to try out a new direction in her writing. They met while swimming in the Med. From the moment they first met,  they were smitten...and as Martin said, once the dust had settled,  the rest is history. 

They live in the South of France and having just come back from Eugene - the home of Nike, they were both sporting Nike Air Max trainers....and I have to admit both seemed much more able to skip happily down the hill than me. I must try a pair!!

The nearest accommodation I'd been able to find was in Ingleton a short taxi ride away and the earliest I'd been able to arrange a taxi was for 8.00pm so time for supper in The Crown before setting off.

A really nice atmosphere in the pub full of walkers and runners taking part in various charity events as well as Jubilee festivities going on in the pub garden.

The taxi turned up as arranged and took me to the Masons Arms via...

the Ribblehead viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle railway line.

Jim had been a dairy farmer before selling up and bought a local taxi company. I mentioned that I'd seen a number of Belted Galloways on the moors he told me about the intricacies of cattle breeding for milk and beef production and how the Holstein and Freiisan herds are gradually being replaced by Meuse - Rhine - Ijsell (otherwise known as MRI) because of their hybrid vigour.

Jim knows his stuff! 

Total distance walked so far = 709.9 miles

Total ascent so far 85 886 feet

If you'd like to leave a comment, correct me on any detail or just nudge, it'd be great to hear from you. If initially it comes up as Anonymous, please just add your name at the bottom so I can see who it's from.

email: david.LL.thomas@gmail.com

mob: 07850109100

If you'd like to contribute to any or all of the great charities I'm supporting, here are the relevant links.

Parkinsons UK   - My dad had Parkinsons in his latter years and the research work this charity funds and the support it provides to patients and their families is invaluable. - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-thomas215

Just Wheels UK  - this is a small charity set up to provide wheelchairs in a rural community in Tanzania. It does this through funding training, education and the local fabrication and servicing of bespoke wheelchairs. My nephew uses a wheelchair and as he grows I can see the life changing freedoms that proper wheelchairs can bring to both users and their families.- 

 https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900002H35TDAAZ

- RNLI   - these are the brave guys who selflessly head out to sea to help others. I volunteer at Littlehampton RNLI shop and often meet families of those who’ve had first hand experience of their loved ones being saved from the sea. Having sailed for years I can say thankfully we’ve never had to call on the RNLI's services but it’s amazing what it does to know they are there 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-thomas216